All in Financial Independence

Part 6: INVESTING

Part 6: INVESTING

Ruth
Personal Finance, Podcast, PocketSmith, FI SERIES, Financial Independence

FI SERIES

Investing can be incredibly complex, but I found a way to simplify it. I used to feel overwhelmed by the options available, but now I don't. I’m hoping to help you feel the same way. The Happy Saver was born out of my search for information about what I could invest our money in. It took me years to arrive at our current strategy. I don’t want you to take so long to settle on your own strategy. We had some margin in our budget, and I was looking for something to make us money. Ultimately, I finally found good information, which I want to share today.

Part 5: DEBT FREE

Part 5: DEBT FREE

Ruth
Personal Finance, Podcast, PocketSmith, FI SERIES, Financial Independence

FI SERIES

Get out of debt, and stay out of debt. I think of debt as a phase of life that I moved through. That period has passed, and I’ve moved on. Jonny and I have been entirely debt-free since our early 30s, and I encourage you to head down the debt-free path as well. Debt has always had an ‘ick’ factor for me, a feeling I am grateful for. There has never been a day that we regretted becoming permanently debt-free. We never have to seek the bank's opinion about our financial decisions again.

Part 4: KIWISAVER

Part 4: KIWISAVER

Ruth
Personal Finance, Podcast, PocketSmith, FI SERIES, Financial Independence

FI SERIES

Joining KiwiSaver is a no-brainer, and it still surprises me when I meet people who are not in it. I’m always looking ahead and doing my best to determine what I might need money for and how much I might need. I keep my ear to the ground about how affordable retirement is for New Zealanders. I talk to people over 65 and ask them what advice they would give me about financially preparing for retirement. Then I ask myself if, on my current trajectory, I’m heading in the right direction.

Part 3: EMERGENCY FUND

Part 3: EMERGENCY FUND

Ruth
Personal Finance, Podcast, PocketSmith, FI SERIES, Financial Independence

FI SERIES

The best thing I ever did was set some cash into a bank account, which we could instantly access in a financial emergency. It is an amount of money set aside in a specific bank account to be used for bailing myself out if something happens that I didn’t otherwise plan for, but I need money to pay for. Try as I might, I can’t think of everything. Your emergency fund covers the things you forgot despite your best intentions.

Part 2: BUDGET

Part 2: BUDGET

Ruth
Personal Finance, Podcast, PocketSmith, FI SERIES, Financial Independence

FI SERIES

In the first episode in this series of six, I quickly showed you how to calculate your net worth. Today, I want to explain why you need to keep an eye on how and where you earn and spend your money, i.e., budgeting. When you learn to budget, your net worth will begin to increase. Budgeting is simply making a plan for your pūtea (money). If you want to grow your wealth, you must do what wealthy people do. And they know how much they earn and spend. So, I’m sorry, there are no shortcuts here. Most will come to enjoy it as I do, simply because it gives me a feeling of control over my life and removes any anxiety around my pūtea. But for some of you, it will always be a chore. So be it! Do it anyway.

Part 1: NET WORTH

Part 1: NET WORTH

Ruth
Personal Finance, Podcast, PocketSmith, FI SERIES, Financial Independence

FI SERIES

Welcome to the first episode in a short six-part Financial Independence Series. Part 1 focuses on ‘Net Worth’. How much wealth do you have right now? If you added it all up and subtracted what you owe, what are you worth? This can be daunting if you’ve never thought about it. However, the objective is not to objectify wealth; it’s to create a level of wealth that makes you feel comfortable and in control of your present and future.

90. Revisit with Bradie and Paul: The First Year of Early Retirement

90. Revisit with Bradie and Paul: The First Year of Early Retirement

Ruth
Money Journey, Personal Finance, Podcast, PocketSmith, Retirement, Index Funds, Investing, KiwiSaver, Debt Free, Financial Independence, SmartShares

MONEY JOURNEYS

I’m particularly excited about today’s podcast because it is a revisit episode with Bradie and Paul. The elevator pitch for them is that they felt they were drowning in debt just seven short years ago, and now they have just completed their first year of early retirement! Today, I’m really happy to give you an update on a story that keeps getting better over time. 

84. Early Retirement: But still working stuff out.

84. Early Retirement: But still working stuff out.

Ruth
Money Journey, Personal Finance, Podcast, PocketSmith, Debt Free, Financial Independence, KiwiSaver, Retirement

MONEY JOURNEYS

Today, I have the pleasure of sharing the story behind how Tony and his wife Karen came to create a net worth of $2.8 million and retire aged 49 and 54, respectively. They own one home and have a large retirement fund which they built from always investing a portion of their take-home pay from their 20+ year careers in the New Zealand Police. There are still many unknowns as they try to work out how to structure their money to support them during their long and adventurous retirement.

72. An inheritance goes a long way!

72. An inheritance goes a long way!

Ruth
Money Journey, Personal Finance, Podcast, PocketSmith, Financial Independence, Investing, Index Funds

MONEY JOURNEYS

It’s what you DO with an inheritance that counts. Will chose to pay off debt and invest. His biggest financial triumph, he said, has been the fact that he took an interest in working out how to grow wealth, he took the time to educate himself, and then he actually took action. Now married and living in their own home in Auckland, this 31-year-old couple is still well on their way to financial freedom.

70. Our Money, Our Future

70. Our Money, Our Future

Ruth
Money Journey, Personal Finance, Podcast, PocketSmith, Financial Independence

MONEY JOURNEYS

Today’s guest, 33-year-old Freya from Auckland, emailed me because she wanted me to interview more younger women who had their money sorted and also handled their families' finances. From the little she divulged in her email, I could tell that she was on track to being financially sorted, so I encouraged her to speak with me instead! I found her so inspiring to speak with and I think you will too.

69. A Financially Complicated Breakup

69. A Financially Complicated Breakup

Ruth
Money Journey, Personal Finance, Podcast, PocketSmith, Financial Independence

MONEY JOURNEYS

Neil has come a long way in life since his move from London to New Zealand in 2005. Today he finds himself in his late 40s, a father of one, with investments both in the UK and New Zealand. But it’s not all roses, and the break up of a relationship is teaching him how to financially prepare for a settlement and let go of what's not important in life, to create space for the things that are.

67. How to Use Your Nest Egg in Retirement

67. How to Use Your Nest Egg in Retirement

Ruth
Money Journey, Personal Finance, Podcast, PocketSmith, Debt Free, Financial Independence, KiwiSaver, Retirement

MONEY JOURNEYS

Zoe emailed me a question, which I answered, but what got me interested was how financially assured this recently retired woman from Christchurch was as she actually begins to live off New Zealand superannuation plus the investments she has built up. The thing was, she only really started to pay attention to her pūtea (money) when she was in her late 50s, proving that it’s never too late to take control of your finances.

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